Funny. Try to imagine how the world looks to whatever university adminstrator thought this was a good idea, in fact a noble and uplifting idea.

I suppose everyone would have to walk around with a bag over their head, or maybe wrapped head-to-foot in a burqa. After all, you don't want whatever you might be wearing, or anything about how you look, to be seen as offensive. Only way to do that is to make sure no one can see anything.

And then what to do about people who are offended by those who hide everything about their appearance?

Actually, I was informed long ago that the preferred term is "cowhand," which I think is to distinguish the real thing from Western movie heroes, country-western singers, etc.,plus the connotation of rash behavior.

And then there is the old joke about the easterner querying an old cowhand about his mode of dress, and he goes through the list about the hat shading from the sun, etc. and so forth, and then the easterner asks, "but what about those sneakers? Why aren't you wearing boots?"And the cowhand says, "Why, I don't want to look like no truckdriver!"

"Okay, I'll go as a university spokesman."Wouldn't it be scarier to dress up as the Dean of Students? Or would that be too frightening to the children, most of whom will still be on their parents health insurance?

Since practically any costume an be deems offensive to someone, I can only see one possible choice which would only offend the prudes. (and we don't mind offending them) I wonder what the average evening temperatures are this time of year in boulder?

A Cranston woman, Chelly Martinka, started an online campaign to get pickle maker Gedney Foods, which makes Cains and Del Monte Pickles, to stop using the word "midget" on their labels. Martinka finds the word offensive and started the campaign because her daughter has Dwarfism. Gedney foods has agreed to remove the word from the labels.

Wow, George Grady, the linked piece is even more thin-skinned than I expected. The pictures are classic -- all those poor students who have to wear a "stigma" for life because of, you know, Halloween costumes.

On the bright side, it appears this is merely a suggestion by the university rather than a requirement.

I'm not as thin-skinned as the University Administration apparently thinks that Blacks, Asians, Cowboys, and Hookers are. I hereby grant permission for any student who wants to do so to dress up as An Old Fart for Halloween.

According to the University of Colorado's own web site they have almost 400 students of American Indian* ethnicity enrolled. I wonder (1) what they're supposed to dress up as and (2) they're offended by the university linking them with "white trash" as an objectionable category.

Lot's of Cowboys in Prep HS football in Colorado too. Gunnison in Denver comes to mind. I'm sure there's others. 'Course, you can dress in that uniform because then you're not a cowboy, you're a football player.

Buckaroo is pretty good, but go as Buckra for Halloween. Put on a sign: "Big Buckra." If you are a white person anyway. Then see if anyone in Boulder has any idea what that's all about. Depending on the point of view, you can offend both white people and black people with that getup. At least some of them. Perhaps only the historically clever and knowledgable. Or the particularly ignorant.

For extra credit, talk with a drawl and drink straight bourbon. Be friendly and condescending at the same time. Discuss hunting and fishing.

Due to an unprecedented number of phone calls seeking clarification on the University's Halloween costume policy, we are releasing these expanded guidelines for holiday dress.

Examples of unacceptable costumes:Ghosts, ghouls, haints, or other spirit beings. Such depictions may cause offense to those of non-traditional spiritual faiths.People. No one desires to be reduced to a stereotype, and we support this deeply felt lack of desire at UC Boulder. Exceptions outlined below.Sexually attractive. No costumes of any type that may present cause for comparison between persons based on desirability as partners in sexual congress will be permitted. No costumes that arouse desire in others to engage in or imagine oneself engaged in sexual congress will be permitted. Sexual attractiveness as per the standard model does not meet the guidelines of the University's Values Rubric, and any attempts to pursue sexual attractiveness as per the standard model will be interpreted as hostility to the agreed upon Values Rubric, causing one to be subject to ethics examination for possible admittance to UC Boulder Values Formulation Training.

"It's the U.K., so maybe something's lost in the translation. I see they don't capitalize "indians." (I'm offended!)"

Two nations separated by a common language dept.

In the UK "Indians" (capitalised thus) would usually mean real Indians, as in from India, who play a rather more prominent role in our history than native Americans do. "Red Indians", with the qualifier, might get capitalised (and Lakota and Navaho, etc. certainly would), but "cowboys and indians", as in the violent game played by small children, would usually get spelled thus. There's more to the world than Leftpondistan, y'know...

So is four-year-old Althouse a generic cowgirl or a specific cowgirl - Dale Evans or Sally Starr?

Speaking of stereotype vs. specific, I remember a Halloween (manufactured) controversy in Madison in the mid 80's when the (white) UW student body president came under attack for going in blackface. His defense (which I will always remember as "the one-glove defense") was that he was dressed as Michael Jackson. If he had only waited a few years, he could have gone in white pancake makeup.

They've been inundating my daughter with 'come to school here' propaganda - Ummm, No. I think I'll nix this in the bud.

Grew up maybe 30 miles south of there, and my kid is in graduate school there. Has been fairly far to the left as long as I can remember, and that means 45 years since I was a freshman (but not there). Back then, there seemed to be an axis of left leaning schools - Berkeley, Boulder, Austin, (yes) Madison, Amherst/Boston. Boulder hasn't changed much in that regard since the Vietnam protest days, when one could apparently find any drug they wanted within a block on the Hill just west of campus. Town is still terminally hip, and hard left.

Funny thing though is that the President (still, I think) is Bruce Benson, former GOP candidate for governor and state chair, and his interim predecessor was Hank Brown, former GOP Senator (Even w/o term limits, Republicans there at the national level tend to serve a term or so and then retire, while the Dems tend to go as long as they can).

In any case the university is good and bad. Pretty good STEM, esp graduate schools. Several Nobels there. But too much emphasis on research and not enough on teaching though. Definitely a party school though - hard drinking and a huge amount of pot smoke hanging over parts of campus. You can get a very good education there as an undergrad, if you are disciplined and work at it, but if you aren't, it can be disastrous. Been this way for a long time though - was this way 40 years ago, and apparently hasn't changed. I would guess though that if your kid is being pursued aggressively there, it is either for athletics or academics, both of which would be fairly safe - they have always taken care of their athletes quite (maybe too) well, and their Presidential Scholar (or whatever it is) program is top rate for undergrads, better than many private schools.

One more thing though. Boulder is not only terminally hip, but also probably the fittest big University town in the country. Everyone it seems is hugely into outdoor sports year round. This means that the co-eds tend to be thin, trim, and tanned. And, ditto for the guys too. Also, a lot of money sloshing around, since out of state tuition is nearly that of private schools. So the social competition for the young women can be brutal.

I keep being reminded by my kid (who is there in graduate school in STEM, and did a summer there in an NSF REU program there as an undergrad) that the University really is quite good, and you can get a very good undergrad education there. And, realistically, they probably aren't any worse about the PC stuff than the bulk of large universities, and even colleges, around the country.

I would truly love it sghould the son of a real-life eastern Colorado rancher dress for school on Halloween as he dresses every day - Stetson, denim shirt, leather belt, Wranglers and stirrup-soled boots.

CU-Boulder is a government institution limited in its authority over student activities by the US Constitution, which includes the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment to the Constitution prohibits the government (for example, the CU-Boulder administration) from limiting the free expression of their students.

This would be such a slam-dunk big money win for anyone penalized for disobeying the Stasi dictat of the admins that I'm surprised lawyers aren't advising their fraternity brothers on how to document their parties for the trials.

If I had a daughter,I'd dress her up in green,And send her up to Boulder,To coach the football team, But if I had a son, sir,I'd tell you what he'd do.He'd yell "to hell with Boulder",Like his daddy used to do.

Funny, about a quarter of Texas cowboys were African American, another quarter or third were Mexicans. The rest white. So, where's the stereotype? I find it very offensive that a western University know so damned little about western history. It's not like ancient, it was less than two hundred years ago and the records are in English.

It would have saved us a lot of money if only we'd known just how ignorant these folks are before we sent our kids to school.

The rest of Colorado doesn't refer to Boulder (home of the University of Colorado) as the People's Republic of Boulder for nothing. They're so far left they consider Stalin too conservative. There are a lot of good colleges in the state, but CU isn't on the top of MY list.

The rest of Colorado doesn't refer to Boulder (home of the University of Colorado) as the People's Republic of Boulder for nothing. They're so far left they consider Stalin too conservative. There are a lot of good colleges in the state, but CU isn't on the top of MY list.

Yeah. Cowboy costumes are really offensive. I'm gonna make a wild guess that the hundreds of manifestations of hookerwear the ladies will be flaunting will be seen as "empowering," not offensive. That would be prudish!